Take Me Home
by Stratagem
Summary: Short stories about the paladins and their families, back before they got launched into space and became defenders of the universe.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own VLD!

A/N: Sooo, I've sort of been obsessed with thinking about Lance and his family and wanted to write about them. If I try any Spanish and totally screw it up, I'm sorry! I'm doing my best. :) PM me if I screw something up really badly, lol.

* * *

 **For the Best**

"Oh, Lance—But really? That's wonderful! I mean, I know it's not exactly what you were hoping for, but it's still nice, isn't it? My baby, a cargo pilot."

"But Mama…"

Lance had known this would happen. This was why he had been putting off calling them all day long. He was sitting on his bed, using his cell to videochat with his family. The Garrison was a few hours behind time in Varadero, so his family was already finished with dinner and getting ready for bed. He could hear Paz in the background, yelling as she chased down Theo, and his grandparents were playing backgammon in the living room, visible in the corner of the screen. They were winding down while Lance was supposed to be at dinner himself.

"I'm sorry, I know you really wanted to be fighter class," his mother said, but the relief was plain on her face. "But you're still at the Garrison, like you always wanted, and you're a real pilot now. That's fantastic."

"Yes, sort of," he said, rolling onto his stomach. But it wasn't the same. Hunk got it. Why couldn't his parents understand? Not that he really expected them to… Ever since he had announced his intentions to try out for the fighter pilot classification, his mother had been on him to switch to cargo class. It was more stable. It was less stressful.

It was _safer_.

"You'll still get to fly, _hijo_ ," his papa said, managing to not look as happy as his mother, "You'll go all sorts of places and meet people, and cargo pilots get to go on more flights than fighter pilots."

"Your papa was just reading about that the other day," Mama said, smiling, "You'll put wrack up more flying points."

"It's flight hours, not flying points," Lance said. He was trying his best to not sulk, but couldn't they just sympathize with him? It would almost be easier to accept it if they didn't seem almost excited that his dream had just been snatched away, ripped to shreds, and thrown to the wind.

"I think it's a good, steady job," Mama said, "You'll get more time off, and you can come home more often."

"Yeah, I guess," he said and attempted a half-smile, "You guys are still coming to Family Weekend, right?"

"Seeing how we already took time off for it and have a hotel booked, I sure hope we're coming," Papa said, "I guess we could change our plans and go to Disney Land instead…"

"Disney Land!" Theo yelled in the background, swinging from the banister of the stairs, "Let's go!"

"We can go visit that lake you like," Mama said, and he could tell she was trying to make him feel better. "And Hunk and his family can go with us. They're coming too, aren't they?"

"Yep," Lance said, nodding. He plucked at a thread on his blanket and propped his cell up on his pillow. For a long moment, there was silence except for Theo and Paz arguing about what they would do at Disney Land if they were able to convince Mama and Papa to go there instead of the Garrison.

"Lance…We know you're disappointed," Papa finally said, "But don't let this ruin your experience there."

"I can retake the test next year," Lance said, "We can take it once a year, and I was only a couple points behind the next guy." They only trained a few fighter pilots from each year, and he was so close to beating out Keith for the spot for their year. Sometimes he just wanted to tackle that guy and shave his mullet off.

"Let's worry about that next year, then," his mother said gently, "Keep having fun and making friends. And don't get into too much trouble."

"Tell Conejito that he should keep his feet on the ground, where they belong!" came Papi's crackling ancient voice. Lance couldn't see him, but he could imagine him banging his fist on the table. He sighed at the old nickname, wishing for the thousandth time his grandpa could let him grow out of that one.

"He's a cargo pilot, Papa," said his mother, "You should congratulate him."

Ohhh, Lance would rather _not_. Could they skip that part?

Suddenly the camera moved, and the view yanked to the side. Theo's face, so similar to Lance's own, took up the entire screen. "What?! You're not a fighter pilot?"

Lance glared at his purposefully aggravating little brother. "Not exactly. But I was close."

"That's not fair!" Theo said. He carried the computer away from the living room, leaving behind his parents and grandparents, and walked out onto the patio at the front of the house. The door creaked and then banged shut behind him before opening again to let Paz out. "How come they won't let you be a fighter pilot?"

Lance shrugged, but part of him was glad that at least his brother was taking his side. "They only picked a couple of fighter pilots from our class. I'm next in line if something happens to the other guy."

"Is it that dirty mullet _cabrón_?" Theo asked, leaning into the camera and breathing on the lens. "Was it?!"

Paz yanked him back and then smacked him upside the head. "Go wash your foul mouth, and stop fogging the lens." Then she looked hard at Lance. "Well? Was it the Mullet?"

A little older than Lance, Paz was about to graduate from high school and go off to college soon. She had darker hair than him and hers was curly, but they shared the same blue eyes. Most of their family had blue eyes, and now hers were trained on him in sympathetic anger.

"Yeah. The Mullet got in."

"That—" She happily indulged in a string of curses in three different languages that would have made her mother make her wash her mouth out with soap and gargle salt water. "That's the worst, Lance."

"Maybe he'll break an arm," Theo said with vicious enthusiasm, "Or both arms! And then you can take his place."

Lance couldn't help but snicker. Still, he shook his head. "It's okay, he beat me. It's fair, even if it sucks."

"It sucks so bad though," Theo said, and Paz pushed him out of the frame again.

"You're not helping," she said, thumping him on the ear.

He batted back at her and shoved his way back into the frame. "Am too, I'm coming up with ideas." Tapping his chin, an evil grin brightened his face. "When we're there for Family Boring Days, we can sabotage him. I can put a snake in his bunk. You got snakes there?"

"I could threaten him," Paz said with a shrug. As a capoeira and jiu-jitsu fighter, she was more than a little intimidating. Lance had lots of memories of Paz trying to take him down while showing their parents new moves she had learned, which had prompted him to learn how to fight back. They were pretty evenly matched nowadays, even if he was just self-taught due to needing to survive a childhood with her crazy self.

"Thanks, but I'm going to have to say no to both of those," Lance said, though their attempts to make him feel better worked. A little. At least they understood. "Hey, I've gotta go soon. Is Josie there?"

Paz picked up the computer and headed indoors. "She's in bed already, but she's probably still awake."

"Can you check?"

"Where do you think I'm going?"

Paz carried the computer up the stairs, and Lance saw the handprints on the wall of the staircase. Instead of pictures, there were handprints from all of his brothers and sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, and relatives all over the wall. Lance's mom said it was like having everyone in the house all the time. Papa just said it saved money on picture frames, which usually got him a swat on the arm.

When she reached Josie's room, Pax stopped and lifted the computer up to her face. "Hey. I'm sorry. I know how bad you wanted fighter pilot."

"I can try again next year," he said again, going for the optimist route. He didn't want her to feel sorry for him or anything. "This just sets me up to be the beloved underdog."

"Yeah, it's better for your heroic story in the long run."

"The Legend of Lance McClain. It'll be streaming in five years, you watch."

"Shut up, you ham…"

Paz knocked on the door and then opened it. A soft golden nightlight glow lit the purple and blue explosion of a room. The little bump under the covers on the bed shifted and then Josie pushed the covers back. She saw the computer and made grabby hands for it. "I wanna talk, m'not sleepy."

"You are, too," Paz said, rolling her eyes, but she set the computer on the bed anyways. "I'll come back and get this in a few minutes."

"Hey _, pajarita_ ," Lance said, managing a smile for his baby sister. He probably would never tell anyone, ever, but Josie was his favorite sibling. Yeah, sure, you weren't supposed to have favorites, but he did. It was because he had partly been in charge of raising her, since he had babysat all the time, but he was the one who taught her how to swim and how to walk and when the best time to steal food from the kitchen was. She was cute and tender-hearted and quiet and didn't tease him as much as his other siblings, and he just wanted to protect her from the world. It helped that she loved him best, too. "What'd you do at school today?

"Hi," Josie said, pulling the covers up around her head. "I made a new friend."

"Yeah? What's their name?"

"Gaby," she said, "She's got black hair and likes Barbie and Legos like me and her favorite color is purple."

"Sounds like best friend material right there."

"Yeah…" She made a face at him and leaned in closer to the screen. "Why're you sad?"

"Huh? I'm not sad," Lance said. Hundreds of miles away, he sat up and picked up the phone. He forced a bright, winning smile, one that he had down-pat. "See? Super not sad."

Josie's lower lip poked out, and she reached out to pat the computer screen. "Don't be sad, Lance."

"Josie, I'm not—" He gritted his teeth, wondering how he had wound up with such a perceptive little sister. What was it with itty bitty kids and being able to know things about people? Or was that just Josie? "I'm just disappointed."

She tilted her head to the side. "What's that?"

"It's…something didn't happen the way I expected it to, and it was something I really wanted, so now I'm—"

"Sad."

"Yeah, okay, fine. I'm sad." He flicked his eyes at the camera. "Brat."

Josie's lip trembled in commiseration, and she wrapped her arms around the computer. "Poor Lance. Love you." _  
_

Lance covered his face with one hand and took a deep breath, trying to keep the heat out of his eyes. Man, this sucked so bad. If he was going to cry about it in front of anyone, Josie wouldn't be the worst person. Still, he didn't want his baby sister to see he was that upset.

Flying as a fighter pilot had been his dream since he had first seen a recruitment ad for the Garrison on TV. He had spent years imagining himself in the cockpit of a high-speed, high-octane ship, flying himself and his crew through danger with ease and skill. And now it was like being told he was second-rate, hardly fit to fly at all. He knew that was wrong, that he shouldn't think that way, but that's how it felt when Iverson called out their testing positions.

To the _entire_ class.

"I wish I could get a real Josie hug," he finally said, shoving all of that mess to the back of his mind, where it belonged, "Miss you, squirt."

"Miss you, too," she said, leaning back and patting the computer.

But hey, at least his family was coming to visit soon. Maybe they could all just ditch the Garrison and go to Disney Land for a few days. It would be nice to get away from a while. Also, they'd be less likely to talk about how nice it was that he was a cargo pilot.

Yeah. Very nice. Very safe.

Great...


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Voltron!

A/N: I just have all the family feels, okay? And I need McClain family feels right noooow, plus Lance being the best big brother ever. Also, his baby sister has a strange 6th sense about things, though this'll eventually get explained in _Water and Blood_. This takes place during Lance's last visit home before disappearing into space on a giant blue lion robot. It might count as langst? I don't know what langst qualifications are, so I'm just going to tag it as langst in case it is…

* * *

 _The Biggest Lie_

"Maybe she's not feeling well?"

"Or she's just being a big baby. Like usual."

Montez rolled his eyes. As the eldest McClain sibling currently in the room, he apparently felt like he needed to be the most mature, too. "Theo, don't be such a brat."

"He can't help it, that's just his personality," Lance said, smirking at Theo. Still…he reached over and rested his wrist against Josie's forehead. No fever. But it was a little strange that she was being so clingy.

Since the moment he had walked through the front door of the house for his furlough, Josie had been by his side as much as possible and found every excuse to stick to him. Not only that, but she seemed sort of sad or worried. It was hard to tell, and when he asked her about it, she would just shake her head.

When he pulled his wrist away, Josie nuzzled into his arm and leaned her head against him, making it difficult to maneuver his console controller. Normally that would've been annoying, but he was getting worried about her.

Sure, they always hung out a lot when he was home, but she usually didn't act like a barnacle or look for him every time he was out of her sight. Last night when he had gone out with some old friends, he had left her at the doorstep, looking like she was about to cry.

Which, you know, made him feel like the best big brother ever.

"Jo, why don't you come over here and give Lance some space to breathe?" Montez said, "You're smothering him." He was sitting in the big armchair closer to the TV, and the fluffy beanbag that Josie usually claimed was by that chair.

"I don't want to," she mumbled.

"You're being annoying," Theo said, leaning forward, pushing against the couch cushions on the other side of Lance. "Like a little leech. Or a tick! Josie the tick, tick, tick."

Josie frowned and hid her face against Lance's arm.

"And you're a mosquito," Lance said, "Which is way worse." He unfolded one of his legs and used it to shove Theo against the arm of the couch, squashing him.

Theo yelped. "I can't see, Lance, stop it!"

"Eat cushion, mosquito-face."

"Get off!"

"And Mama wonders why I never come home…" Montez paused the game and got up to separate his younger brothers. He was promptly yanked into the battle as well when Theo punched out and caught him in the thigh.

While her brothers wrestled, Josie climbed up onto the back of the couch and perched there, waiting patiently.

" _Mija_ , get off the couch like that," Papa said as he walked by, "And boys, break it up! Or take it outside, you pick."

Lance wriggled out of the fight, leaving Montez and Theo yelling at each other and Papa scolding both of them. He stepped up to the back of the couch backwards and glanced over his shoulder at Josie. "Wanna go to the beach?"

"Mhmm." She jumped onto him for a piggyback ride, locking her legs around him and looping her arms about his neck.

They headed out the door, Lance announcing where they were going to whoever happened to be listening. Abuela was out working in her herb garden, so she at least saw them as Lance took off toward the beach.

As Lance walked, Josie hummed little snatches of a song, her chin occasionally bouncing against his shoulder. Being around Josie was relaxing. She didn't usually expect or need him to amuse her, even though she was just a kid. She was perfectly capable of entertaining herself with imaginary games or daydreaming, which sometimes got her into trouble since she was often off in her own head. She didn't need jokes or quick comebacks or constant chatter or competition. Not that he usually minded doing those things, he liked all that stuff and thrived off of it, but sometimes he liked to chill, too.

Hunk was actually undemanding like that, too. Lance had definitely lucked out in the roommate and best friend department.

"What're you singing?"

"Nothing. I made it up."

"Ah, got it."

They reached the beach access that belonged to one of their family's friends, and Lance put his little sister down. Both of them took off their shoes and tucked them off to the side of the path. When her sandals were hidden, Josie grabbed his hand instead of running ahead like usual, and he squeezed her fingers.

It was sunset, and the sky was glowing orange and red as they stepped out onto the sand. The sea was calm, the waves striking the sand with a steady rhythm like a heartbeat.

As they walked, Josie finally let go of his hand to pick up shells from the tideline. She liked the ones with little holes in them so she could turn them into necklaces and bracelets and anklets. After a while Lance got ahead of her, though he was walking slowly. He glanced behind to see her taking big steps, putting her feet in his footprints as she followed along.

Lance sat down next to somebody's abandoned sandcastle and waited for her to catch up, digging his toes into cool sand. She wandered over and plopped down right beside him. Leaning over, she set a little black mermaid's purse on his knee.

"Where'd you find this?" he asked, picking it up and turning it over in his hand. When he had been Josie's age, he thought that skate egg cases were the coolest thing to find except for shark teeth. There was an entire jar of them back in his room at home.

"Back there, up the beach," she said, pointing back where they came from. She tilted to the side and laid some of her other finds out on the sand in a line. Tiny purple shards, pieces of spirals, half of an orange-tinted conch, a few complete shells.

Lance leaned over her and picked up a small blue shell. " _Pajarita_? If I ask you a question, can you tell me the truth?" He rolled the shell over in his hand and glanced at her.

Josie didn't look up from inspecting her haul. "Okay…"

"Are you all right? You just seem…upset. Or scared. Are you scared of something?" Lance set the blue shell back beside her other shells and tried to gauge her expression. He wasn't prepared for her eyes to well up with tears.

"Do you have to go back?"

"Huh? Josie, what…" Lance automatically reached for her, drawing her closer. Ahhh, nooo…

She shook her head and then pressed her palms to her eyes. Her shoulders trembled, and Lance mentally flailed. Ah, crying baby sister was the worst.

"Josie, Josie," he said, hugging her, "Please don't cry, I'm not going back to the Garrison for another couple days—"

"No, I don't want you to go back," she said, her voice breaking. She pulled away and clapped her hands against his face, like she wanted him to focus. "Something bad is going to happen."

Lance reached up and grabbed her hands in one of his, pulling them off his face. "What in the world are you talking about? Nothing bad's going to happen."

"Yes, it is."

"No, it's not."

"Is too."

"Josie…"

"It is too!" she practically shrieked, and he leaned back, surprised. She rarely raised her voice, and he couldn't remember the last time she had yelled at him. Scrambling to her feet, she turned toward him, her hands forming little angry fists at her sides. "It is!"

"Okay, okay," he said, holding his hands up, his eyes wide. "Why do you think something bad is going to happen?"

Josie made a face and shrugged. "It just is."

"All right…Look, I have to go back to the Garrison—"

"No!"

Wow, did she just stomp her foot against the sand? Who was this and where was his peaceful baby sister? He blinked at her and stood up. Time to calm down. Taking her by the hand, he led her to the edge of the surf, where they stood silently for a few moments, letting the waves play at their toes.

"Better?"

"No…"

"Josie." Lance knelt down so that they were eye level with each other, the saltwater racing around his legs. "I know you don't want me to, but I have to go back to the Garrison. I'll call every day and check in, all right? I promise. I'll be fine, they don't even let us fly real ships yet."

She pouted and shook her head, making Lance sigh.

"I'll tell Hunk that you said to keep an eye on me. Will that help?"

Finally, she nodded. "I guess."

"Good!" He swept her up into a huge hug and then grinned at her. "Now let's go get some Italian ice before we go back." Because that would make everything better.

* * *

A few weeks later, on the Castle ship, trillions of miles away from home, Lance sat between his lion's massive metal paws and looked down at his dead cell phone. He couldn't call from here.

He was breaking a promise, and he had lied to his little sister.

What a great big brother he was.

What a good, responsible son to his parents, who by now would've been told that he was dead. KIA, MIA, something that the Garrison could write off as a training accident. Maybe he had officially died in one of the explosions Keith had set off. Or in the speeder crash. His family would get some empty condolences and a flag, never knowing that really he had just flown off in some kind of magic mecha robot without even thinking about the consequences...

Above him, Blue hummed, and he felt something cool and faint but insistent at the back of his mind. Acceptance. Encouragement. Forgiveness for that whole crash-into-the-sand incident earlier.

Lance sighed at the lion. "Think I'll ever get to go home, Blue?"

This time the feeling was stronger.

 _Reassurance._

He looked at the messy hemp braid around his ankle, a small shell tied into it by tiny hands. Those hands belonged to someone who thought he was a good big brother. His family would want him to come home. He would get there one day. Touching the little braid, he half-smiled up at the lion. "Yeah, me too."


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own VLD!

A/N: Ugh, all my other paladin family fics have been a tad angsty up until now, so HERE, have some fluffy fluffer fluffiness with Hunk and Lance's families hanging out together and being FRIENDS.

* * *

 **Stretch the Day**

"Okay, so this is way better than going to the Family Weekend Brunch thing."

"You're not lying, buddy," Lance said with a content sigh. The two cadets were sitting at the end of a dock out on Lake Crystal, their feet in the water and bellies full from the epic grilling feast their parents had created. Cuban-Samoan fusion food was officially a thing and it was beautiful.

The Garrison was having a Family Weekend, which meant that families were invited to invade the campus, gush over their brilliant offspring, brag aggressively to each other about said offspring, then leave. Normally people participated in the Garrison-sanctioned events that were held on campus, but Lance and Hunk had grabbed their families and dashed off to the lake. True, Lance had been campaigning for Disney Land, but a day at the lake was a decent consolation prize. They had tried to drag Pidge along and Lance had even given a speech about team-bonding, but he had refused, saying he was going to meet with his mom on videochat later or something.

"Your mom's going to have to give my mom that BBQ recipe," Hunk said, "I think I saw Pops eat three bowls of it, and he's picky."

"Literally no one's picky when it comes to my mom's cooking," Lance said proudly. He kicked at the surface of the lake, sending a spray of water into the air. It caught Theo and Isaia as they grappled on top of a rented paddleboard, playing a small-scale version of king-of-the-hill.

"Lance, come fight me!" Theo demanded, even though Isaia had him on his knees in a headlock. He twisted around, wrapping a leg around Isaia's and squeezing.

"You have to beat Isaia first," Lance said. He leaned back on his hands and smirked at Hunk. "Which'll be never." The two of them were watching their younger siblings while their parents rested in the shade near the picnic tables. Actually, Lance's older sister Paz was _supposed_ to be watching the kids, but she was currently floating farther out in the lake, sunbathing. The loser.

"It's sort of not fair since Isaia takes MMA classes," Hunk said. He winced in sympathy as Isaia whipped around and sent scrawny Theo over his shoulder, straight into the water. "See?"

"Round seven!" Theo shouted the moment his head popped above the surface. "Underwater attack!" He dove down, disappearing into the green-tinted water of the lake.

"Wait, what does that mean?" Isaia said, "Hold on…" He stood solidly on the paddleboard, his balance basically perfect, at least until hands latched onto one side of the board and shoved. Isaia yelled as he fell off, nearly landing on top of Theo.

"See, even though Isaia's better, Theo fights dirty," Lance said. He looked over the edge of the dock and grinned down at Josie, who was sitting on the other paddleboard, legs in the water. "Right?"

"Super right," she said, looking up and nodding. "I wanna swim now, okay?"

"Sure, but stay right here near the dock."

Josie splashed into the water and paddled around until she was between Hunk's right foot and Lance's left. Looping a hand around each of their ankles, she treaded water and watched Theo and Isaia try to drown each other.

Hunk's eyes lit up like he had been chosen by a kitten, and he kept his foot still for her, only kicking his left one. He didn't have any little sisters, so he had adopted Josie after meeting her the first time and he found her to be quite adorable.

"I thought you were going to swim," Lance said, moving his leg back and forth a little, making Josie sway. "That is so not swimming. We're not a swing."

Josie ignored him and continued to tread water. "Isaia's killing Theo."

Hunk frowned, looking out at the battling pair. "Isaia! No murdering people! It's considered bad manners, bro."

Isaia laughed. "It's just Theo!"

Hunk sighed. "So my brother's apparently a psychopath."

"He has a point," Lance said, grinning, "But trust me, my mom would be seriously pissed if Theo died. She's gotten attached over the years, no idea why."

"We could go rescue him," Josie said. She let go of Hunk's ankle and wrapped both arms around Lance's leg. Indulging her, he swung his leg back and forth, dragging her through the water and making her laugh.

"I think he needs to learn to rescue himself," Lance said, his voice slowly raising in volume, "Maybe then he'll stop picking fights with people who are bigger than him!" By the time he finished his sentence, he had his hands cupped around his mouth, making a natural megaphone to shout at Theo.

"Lance, oh my god, can you be any louder?" Paz called from her float, "I don't think the people in Canada heard you."

Lance grinned. "Like this?!" he roared, the water amplifying his voice.

"Lance, I swear—"

"Like a sailor!"

"You are so dead—"

"-ly handsome!"

Out on the paddleboard, Isaia and Theo had stopped play-fighting and draped themselves over the paddleboard.

"Your brother is weird."

"Yeah," Theo said with a grin, "So's yours."

"Yeah, he is." Isaia turned toward him, mischief on his face, "So, what're we gonna do to the Mullet again? For revenge?"

"Well, see, we're gonna need a snake…"


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own VLD!

A/N: I wanted to write something cute and sweet about Lance and his family after going through a roller coaster of emotions with Season 3, so here it is. But yeah, this has absolutely nothing to do with Season 3 and is just pure pre-Voltron family fluff. Also, Lance is 14 here, and his younger brother Theo is six while his baby sister Josie is three and currently uber shy.

* * *

 **But I'm With You**

Lazy summer days were cliché but oh so needed. Lance was sprawled in a lawn chair in the backyard, one ear bud in so he could listen to music while keeping an eye on Theo and Josie. Uncle Eterio had brought them a kiddie pool and a slip-n-slide the last time he had visited, and the youngest McClains were putting their new toys to good use. The entire morning had been taken up with the slip-n-slide, which Lance had made ten times better by getting out the dish soap and making it extra dangerous until Mama had reclaimed the soap.

Theo was monopolizing the slip-n-slide now that Lance had gotten tired of it, and he was trying to do some kind of trick where he slid on his knees then popped up into a fighting stance at the end. Grass and sand covered him from head to toe since he kept sliding off the plastic and face-planting in the yard.

With one foot in the kiddie pool that Josie was sitting in, Lance would occasionally splash her, eliciting giggles. She had a few rubber ducks and a mermaid toy drifting around her as her own personal entourage, but her floaties kept twisting around and getting in the way when she reached for them. When she started to pull them off, Lance shook his head at her.

"Nope, keep them on."

"No, I don't want." She tugged at the right one, pulling it to her elbow.

"Keep them oooon." Reaching down, he shimmied the floatie back up. "Just in case." Josie's lower lip stuck out in a pout, at least until he bent down and splashed her. "No pouting in the pool."

Josie tried to keep sulking but she couldn't keep it up for long. She splashed him back a little then started quietly playing with her toys again, pushing one of the ducks around the water.

Lance nearly bolted out of his skin when someone let out a high-pitched squeal. In the pool, Josie actually jumped, and he heard Theo let out a curse that would have had him eating soap if their mom heard him say it.

"Oh my god, so so _so_ cute!"

Cheese nuggets, it was Clara.

Lance made a face as he glanced over his shoulder toward the house and found his brother Gavin's latest girlfriend walking out of the house. Grinning, she waved her fingers at him and proceeded to stalk toward the kiddie pool like a neon pink and purple leopard. That jumpsuit she was wearing was blinding.

Gavin was excellent at finding pretty girls but he totally sucked at figuring who had a good personality to match. Like his last girlfriend, Isabella, had been a complete 10 but she had been downright scary. Like licked steak knives after dinner, had a taxidermized squirrel named Tim in her car, and listened to rage-punk music psycho scary.

Clara, while not as standardly horrifying, was equally unlikable. Mainly because she was either wrapped around Gavin like an octopus or scream-laughing at weird things. Also, she terrorized Josie because she thought she was adorable and therefore wouldn't leave her alone. Lance couldn't forgive her for that. Gavin always said she was just overeager to get the family to like her, but she didn't seem to get that it took Josie time to warm up to anyone. Hell, the kid still hadn't spoken more than a few words to her preschool teacher, and she had been in the class for a few months now.

The moment she spotted Clara, Josie froze like a baby rabbit who saw a fox. She stared at Clara as if her worst nightmare had come to life, which she pretty much was.

"Hey, it's okay, Jo," Lance said, "You're okay."

"Lance, you are the best big brother ever, watching your baby brother and sister," Clara gushed as she walked over. "So sweet!"

Immediately, like a minor demon being summoned, Theo stomped over and gave Clara a harsh glare. "We're not babies. I'm six and Josie's three."

"Oh, you are so right, little man!" Clara beamed like she couldn't see death emanating from his eyes. "And you're just like a teeny tiny adult."

"It's sort of hot out here, don't you want to go back inside?" Lance said, trying to convince her to retreat before Theo tackled her. Theo happened to be Paz's favorite, and she had passed down many legendary finishing moves to her young protégé. If Clara didn't want to be on the receiving end of an Atomic Elbow Screwdriver to the stomach, she probably should refrain from calling him 'little man' ever again.

"No way, I love the heat," she bubbled, "Want me to take over? Gavin wanted to pop in for a visit with the gang, and I can watch the kidlets if you want go talk to him."

The gang? That meant Gavin had brought his roommates and probably a couple more people to raid the fridge. And kidlets…man, Lance would have been tempted if it was just Theo since Clara deserved his wrath, but he couldn't leave Josie in her clutches. However, he had to tread carefully here. If he was extra rude to Gavin's girlfriend, his eldest sibling would yell at him so much. And he'd tell Mama. Lance was way more worried about the lecture he would get from their mom than he was about dealing with Gavin.

"Josie-Wosie, come give me a hug!" Clara said as she crouched down next to the kiddie pool. "Ugh, you are the cutest thing ever."

Was she serious? _Josie-Wosie_? One of Lance's eyebrows shot up, driven by incredulity. In the pool, Josie stayed perfectly still, acting as if Clara couldn't see her if she didn't move.

"Uh, Clara, she doesn't really like that," he said, trying to spare his baby sister and the psycho's feelings at the same time.

"No, she loves me, Gavin said so."

Well that was a big whopping lie, good job, bro. "He did…"

"Yep." She extended her hands to Josie and made like she was going to grab her.

Josie looked up at Lance with big blue eyes that were on the verge of filling with tears, and he immediately reached for her. She sprang into his arms and clung to him like a barnacle.

"Aw, come on, Josie," Clara said, tilting her head to the side and not lowering her hands, "Let's go paint our nails and I can play with your hair."

Right, because that was going to win her over, messing with her tangled wet hair. Josie hid her face in Lance's shoulder, and he tightened his hold on her, hoping she knew he wasn't going to hand her over to Little Miss Crazypants. "I think she's tired, Clara." He grinned and decided to offer up a sacrifice. "Why don't you do Theo's nails instead?"

Theo's eyes lasered in on him and then flicked to Clara. "I hate nail polish."

"Theo!" a big baritone voice yelled from the house. Gavin was hanging on the doorframe, one of Mom's glass dishes in his hand. "You want any of this before I finish it off, buddy?"

"Is that the _boliche_?" Theo said, zeroing in on Gavin instead, "That's mine!"

"Yeah, but I'm gonna eat it…"

"Don't!" Theo scrambled up from the slip-n-slide and ran toward the house. "Get out and take your whacko girlfriend with you!"

Clara stood up and crossed her arms over her chest, shock on her face. "What did you call me?"

"A whacko!" Theo yelled over his shoulder before attacking Gavin's side, reaching for his favorite food while Gavin shouted at him for insulting Clara. The crazy girlfriend in question huffed and walked over, probably expecting to be defended. Most likely it would just devolve into a real fight over the _boliche_.

"She's gone," Lance said, and Josie lifted her head from his shoulder. Chuckling, he ran a hand over her dark-haired head. "You're going to have to learn to stick up for yourself, you know?"

"Nuh-uh." Josie climbed out of his lap to get back into the pool, stumbling a little on the edge.

"Yuh-huh," he replied, holding out his hand. She grabbed it and steadied herself before sitting down in the pool. "And you have to start talking to people."

"You talk to people."

"No, you have to talk to people, too. I won't always be able to tell people what you want," Lance said. He grabbed one of her rubber ducks and filled it with water before squirting her with it. "Capice?"

"Capoosh," she said, the glimmer in her clever eyes telling him that she knew exactly how to say it and had purposefully messed it up.

"Josie—"

She splashed at him, aiming for his face since she was obviously done with the conversation.

Lance rolled his eyes at her quiet stubbornness and then started making faces, contorting his mouth and bugging out his eyes. "Oh, no, don't splash! You'll awaken the kraken!"

"You're not kraken," she said, "You're Lance."

"That's because I haven't been splashed a lot," he said in a matter-of-fact tone, "See, I only turn into the kraken when I get splashed too much."

Josie looked at him, eyes narrowing, and then she splashed him again. He leaned forward and made playful growling noises as she kept shoving water at him, then he fake-roared and launched himself into the pool, dousing her with a tidal wave. With a delighted smile, Josie giggled and kept splashing him as he faux-raged and knocked most of the water out of the pool. Finally, he dropped down into the water and went still.

A tiny finger poked at him. "Lance?" Josie flopped down across his chest and poked at his mouth. "Laaaance?"

Letting out a sudden shout, he sat up and grabbed her as she tumbled, swooping her up and heading to the house. "The kraken is hungry! The kraken demands ice cream!"

"Me too!"

They had reached the patio when the kitchen door flew open and their mom stepped out, holding towels. "No, no, you're not coming into the house soaked again, _mijo_. I already had to get onto Theo."

"This not Lance, this is kraken," Josie said as Lance set her down on the patio. Mama immediately bent down and started drying her off.

Playing along, Lance grinned and then growled at his mom. "Krakens don't need towels, they take away our insanely awesome water powers."

"That so?" Mama said, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

A second later, Lance's head was engulfed in a fluffy blue towel, and his mom was roughly drying his hair. "Mama! You're suffocating me!"

"Why Lance, you should be more grateful," she teased, nearly taking off his ears as she rubbed the towel over his head, "I'm saving my precious baby boy from a kraken curse, which means I'm definitely getting that mother of the year award." She pulled the towel back from his face and smiled at him. "Look, it's my long lost cursed son!" With a fake cry, she hugged him, her hand resting on the back of his head. "My poor child!"

"Mama, that's Lance," Josie said, tugging on their mom's skirt.

Mama leaned back, wiping away invisible tears. "After all this time, my dream has come true. You can finally come home and actually clean your room."

"Can I go back to being a kraken?"

Mama looped the towel over his neck and kissed his forehead. "Once your room is clean."


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own VLD!

A/N: I just really wanted to write about Lance meeting his baby sister for the first time. Lance is eleven years old here! Short and sweet, though I guess it's a bit bittersweet if you're reading my long fic _Water and Blood_.

* * *

 **For One So Small**

Lance was the only one still awake in the waiting room when his baby sister finally made her grand entrance to the world. He was running off of the coffee dregs his Uncle Eterio had let him finish, the caffeine buzzing through his system while the rest of his family crashed on the couches and chairs. Unable to sleep, Lance had squished himself into a window ledge and played games on Montez's tablet.

When his mom had gone into labor, Lance had almost been left at home with his little brother Theo and his Aunt Maria. However, Lance had started rattling off any and every argument that came to mind, declaring that this would probably be the last little sibling he would ever have and it wasn't fair that he wasn't going to be there when she was born and how could they do that to him, that was evil, why were they mean, so on and so forth. Montez and Paz had been on his side while Gavin had been all for leaving him at home.

His mom had ended the whole fight by yelling at all of them to get in the car, Lance included. He had bolted out the door and launched himself into the back seat before anyone could protest.

There was no way he was falling asleep after all that arguing. He deserved to be there, and he was going to stick it out until the end. Which was why he bummed some candy from Paz and wheedled his favorite uncle into forking over the coffee.

Besides, this baby was going to be his responsibility, in a way. In his family, each of the older siblings took charge of a younger one. While their parents made time for each of them, it made it a little easier on everyone when an older sibling had a designated younger sibling to look after. Gavin had started it when Paz was born, then Montez claimed Lance, and Paz took over Theo. That meant this was baby was Lance's to keep an eye on.

He had to make sure he didn't screw up.

It was around three in the morning when his dad came into the waiting room, a huge exhausted smile on his face. He glanced around and then gestured for Lance to come over. Lance immediately slid off the window ledge and picked his way through the room, resisting the urge to 'accidentally' knock his foot into Gavin, who was sleeping on the floor.

Papa ruffled Lance's hair. "So you're my only hold out."

"Yep," Lance said with a grin. "Is Mama okay? What about the baby?" He stepped past his dad, looking up and down the quiet hospital corridor.

"They're both doing just fine," Papa said, "Do you want to see them?"

"Really? Heck yeah!" Lance started marching off, certain he knew where to go.

Papa caught the back of Lance's shirt before he could head off in the wrong direction. He affectionately squeezed the back of Lance's neck before nudging him toward the left. "This way, Lance."

"I knew that. I was seeing if _you_ knew that."

"Of course."

When they reached Mama's hospital room, Lance hovered in the doorway while Papa stepped inside. A lamp on the bedside table cast a warm yellow glow on his mother's skin while she sat propped up by pillows, her long brown hair loose around her shoulders. Lance's gaze zeroed in on the small white bundle nestled in the crook of her arm.

"Hey, _conejito_ ," Mama said, a tired smile on her face as she used Lance's old pet name, "Come here and say hello to your new sister."

Didn't have to ask him twice. Still, he held himself in check, walking over instead of running. His mom patted the mattress, and he carefully climbed up next to her, trying not to jostle the bed too much.

Lance peered down at the tiny new member of his family, automatically mesmerized. She was asleep, long lashes brushing her red-splotched light brown cheeks. Dark hair covered her head and stuck up at odd angles. He reached toward her then hesitated, looking at his mom for permission.

"You won't break her," she said, "She's not made of glass."

"But she's so little. Theo wasn't this little," Lance said.

"No, Theo was a hefty baby," Papa said. He was sitting in the chair beside the bed, his long legs kicked up and resting on the mattress. He had his eyes closed, grabbing a moment's rest while he could. "But you were small like that."

"Lance was longer," Mama said. She leaned over and pressed her forehead to Lance's head for a moment, nuzzling him. "You've always been lanky, _mijo_."

Since his siblings weren't there to tease him for being a mama's boy, Lance didn't move away or make a face. He scooted closer and then tentatively touched his baby sister's soft cheek before brushing his hand across her kitten fuzz hair.

"What's her name?" he breathed, not wanting to wake her up. Everyone had been asking for months, but his parents had been determined not to tell anyone. They had done the same thing when every other kid was born so they hadn't seen the point in changing that tradition with this one.

"We still can't decide," Mama said, shooting his dad a frown, "Your papa is being beyond unreasonable."

"Evita Isabel is a pretty name, Atala," Papa said, not bothering to open his eyes, "We'll call her Evie."

"And Teresa Josefina is a wonderful name." Mama glance down at Lance. "Tell him, _mijo_."

Lance squinted and tilted his head to the side as he looked at his sister. Oh man, he didn't want to make an important decision. What if he chose wrong and she had to live with that name for the rest of her life? What if she hated her name? What if she hated him for it? What if…

A gentle hand touched his cheek and his mom lifted his chin until their eyes met. "Don't think so much," she said, "You're not going to ruin anything."

He grinned, relief settling over him. "Okay, then we should name her Batgirl Moana Zelda."

"It has a certain ring to it," Papa said, closing his eyes again, "Batgirl Moana Zelda. Bamozelda…"

"Oh, dear, you need to sleep." Mama laughed and shifted toward Lance. "Do you want to hold Batgirl?"

Lance blinked and then nodded. He had lots of practice with holding babies since he had a good number of cousins, and he had already been eight when Theo was born. Mama laid his sister in his arms, and Lance was careful to support her head, holding her close. Her hand was free from the blanket, and he couldn't help but reach out and touch her itty bitty fingers. They flexed and wrapped around his own finger, tighter than he expected. He peeked at her face and found that she had woken up. Her eyes were blue-grey and so big, and she was awake, uh-oh—

"Mama," Lance said, frozen, "She woke up. Help."

"She's all right," Mama said, looping an arm around him, "Look at those pretty eyes."

Lance gingerly rubbed his thumb over the back of her little hand since she didn't seem keen on letting his finger go. A fierce feeling of protectiveness welled up inside him as she yawned and squeezed his finger. Everyone else in his family could look after themselves, even three-year-old Theo to an extent. But the new baby? She was so small, she needed him...

"I'm your big brother Lance," he said to his sister, "And you're Josie."

"Josie?" Mama's eyebrows lifted in surprise.

"Josefina Isabel, or just Josie," Lance said, glancing up at her, a little embarrassed. "I think it's nice. It's good, right? We don't have to call her that." But he really thought it fit.

"Josefina Isabel," Papa said. He sat up and looked at Mama, his small smile almost hidden by his beard. "It's very nice."

"Better than Batgirl?" Mama said, poking Lance in the side.

"Only by a little bit." He looked up at his mom. "Do you think she'll like being called Josie?"

"I think she'll love it," Mama said, kissing his temple.

Lance leaned against her and watched as Josie fell back asleep in his arms, her grip loosening on his finger.

Yeah, he was never going to anything bad happen to her ever.


End file.
